What is a QBO file? QuickBooks Web Connect explained

A QBO file is a QuickBooks Web Connect file: a bank or credit card transaction download in OFX format with an Intuit bank identifier, made for importing into QuickBooks. ".QBO" does not mean QuickBooks Online; QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online both import it, and Excel does not open it directly.

What is Web Connect in QuickBooks?

QuickBooks gets bank transactions in two ways. A bank feed (Direct Connect, or the online banking connection in QuickBooks Online) logs in to the bank and pulls transactions on its own. Web Connect is the file route: you sign in to online banking, download the transactions as a .qbo file, and import that file into QuickBooks. QBO files are, in effect, offline Web Connect.

Web Connect needs no ongoing connection, so it works when a feed is not offered, has stopped, or does not reach far enough back. It is also how converted transactions get into QuickBooks: a PDF or CSV statement converted to QBO imports like a bank download.

What is inside a QBO file

A QBO file is an OFX file with the Intuit bank ID (INTU.BID) in its sign-on block. The bank ID tells QuickBooks which bank the file came from; QuickBooks shows that bank's name on the import and can refuse a bank ID it does not know.

What fields can a QBO file carry?

Each transaction in a QBO (Web Connect) file can carry:

• date
• amount
• payee ("downloaded as" in QuickBooks)
• memo ("bank memo" under Bank Feeds)
• check number
• unique transaction ID, used to avoid duplicates; it must be unique across all files for the account, not only within one file

The file also carries the account number, the account type (checking, savings, credit card, credit line) and the closing balance.

How QuickBooks imports QBO Web Connect files

• QuickBooks Desktop (Windows or Mac) imports QBO files through File > Utilities > Import > Web Connect Files. The transactions go to the Bank Feeds Center, where you match them to vendors, assign income and expense accounts, and add them to the register.
• QuickBooks Online imports QBO files through Transactions > Bank transactions > Upload transactions. It also accepts QFX, OFX and CSV, but QBO is the best of them.
• QuickBooks Desktop does not import OFX or QFX files; they have to be converted to QBO.

QuickBooks Desktop must be no more than three years old to import QBO files. Older versions are past Intuit's sunset date and lose Web Connect; for them, use an IIF file. See importing transactions when QuickBooks is older than three years.

How to open a QBO file in Excel

A QBO file opens in a text editor as tagged text, not as a table. To work with the transactions in Excel:

1. Download and install ProperConvert.
2. Open the QBO file in the app and review the transactions.
3. Click Convert to save a CSV or Excel file, or copy the transactions to the clipboard and paste them into Excel.

To use a QBO file in Quicken, convert it to QFX or QIF.

QBO questions

Is a QBO file a QuickBooks Online file?

No. QBO stands for the QuickBooks variant of OFX. QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online both import it.

Why does QuickBooks show a different bank name after import?

The bank name comes from the bank ID inside the file, not from the account you import into. See bank label from a different bank.

Why does QuickBooks import the same transactions twice, or skip some?

QuickBooks compares the transaction IDs. Two files that give the same transaction different IDs import it twice; two transactions that share an ID import once. Converted files must keep IDs stable for the same transaction and unique for different ones.